This study examines the affordances of blogging on establishing communities of practice within an elementary teacher education program. Building upon the previous work with in-service teachers of Luehmann (2008), we examined pre-service teacher participation in an online community of practice where pre-service teachers, over the course of their…

The purpose of this study was to field-test several conferencing technologies in regional schools to determine whether the technologies are appropriate for the needs of the university supervisor, trainee teachers and supervising teachers in practicum placements. The study also explored the potential of technology for other related purposes. Four…

A study was conducted to examine the self-efficacy of first-year teachers trained in an alternative certification program. Teachers were provided access to professional development through blended learning, yet had varying levels of attendance in the online component (e-coaching). Teachers who attended six or more e-coaching sessions began the…

We report on our efforts to support teachers' development of mathematical knowledge for teaching through online professional development focusing on authentic engagement in collaborative mathematical problem solving. In particular, this paper seeks to explore and understand the relationship between teachers' participation in professional…

Online discussion groups have become a resource for teachers seeking ongoing professional development. Despite their popularity, there has been little systematic investigation into the nature and quality of the dialogue that occurs within an unstructured virtual community to which participants voluntarily subscribe. In this study, we explored how…

Despite the abundance of research reporting authentic, student-centered classroom discussion helps to increase engagement with literary texts and deepen students' understanding of texts, little authentic, student-centered discussion actually occurs in secondary US English classrooms. Reasons for this vary, but some classroom language researchers…

A blended in-service arrangement was designed to support Russian science teachers from rural schools in the integration of technology. Blended learning combines multiple delivery modes that are designed to complement each other and promote learning and application-based behavior. The blended in-service arrangement consisted of two main components:…

This study investigated the efficacy of case development as an instrument for teacher learning in technology integration. In particular, the study investigated whether case development can help teachers (a) develop the ability to integrate technology with content and pedagogy, and (b) cultivate skills required to reflect on their own teaching with…

Instructional coaching or mentoring, as a form of professional development for teachers, has gained importance as educational policy has called for the implementation of research-validated instructional practices by highly qualified teachers. Technology-mediated mentoring has strong potential for overcoming barriers of accessibility and…

To be effective, teacher education programs need to engage teachers in learning as professionals. This includes learning experiences grounded in classroom practice and guidance to develop as professionals so teachers can take on roles of leaders and mentors in their classrooms and in partnerships with universities. New web-based communication…

The development of inquiry and project-based materials is challenging in many ways, not the least of which is the design of supports for teachers implementing such materials. We report on the design of educative and just-in-time teacher supports for an online project-based unit in ocean science. The teacher supports were visible as tabs on the…

In this study we examined the effects of online follow-up and online peer interaction following a face-to face professional development workshop on attitudes towards that professional development and completion of a professional development task. School librarians were invited to work online on a three page plan outlining interventions a library…

This article explores results from a research project studying teacher learning and faculty teaching in two online courses for teachers in a master's degree program. We focus on the interactions among students in online small-group discussions. We argue that three aspects of the online courses impact the way students enter into discussions online,…

With teacher shortages in both general and critical needs areas and constricting operating budgets, it is important for Colleges of Education to develop methods of providing alternative certification programs to reach larger segments of the population. One method of increasing the scope of potential preservice teachers is through the development…

This article describes the experiences of an inservice professional development project for secondary mathematics teachers as project staff struggled to build professional community through online discussions of teaching mathematics with technology. Data from two consecutive years of the project are reported and analyzed in terms of Riel and…